A roadmap to strengthen America’s efforts to combat modern slavery was delivered to the White House today. It’s called “The Path to Freedom.” It’s filled with dozens of specific recommendations for the Obama administration’s second term. The report was prepared by the...
What is the greatest holiday gift you can imagine giving? How about freedom? That's the gift Marie* received last year, thanks to your continuing support of Free the Slaves. Marie was a restavèk slave in Haiti. Restavèks are children sent away by impoverished families...
An armed rebellion is spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rebel troops are attempting to expand the territory they hold. International aid organizations are evacuating personnel. There are serious concerns about the safety of DRC residents as the...
It isn’t on America’s front pages, but there’s a dangerous situation unfolding at this moment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rebel troops have captured the regional capital of Goma – a city of roughly one million people and the regional base of operations...
One of the most important things to happen to the anti-slavery movement in the past decade has been an infusion of resources from philanthropists who've decided they don't want to live in a world with slavery in it. And no one has been more generous than Pam and...
Editor’s Note: We asked FTS Programs Director Karen Stauss to examine the impact the election results might have on the U.S. government’s efforts to combat slavery and trafficking. What does the election outcome mean for the current members of Congress who...
Three major U.S. business associations have asked a federal court to block a new corporate disclosure requirement that would reduce slavery in central Africa, according to news reports in the Wall Street Journal and Compliance Week. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce,...
President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak about slavery at noon ET today, at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. You can watch live here or here. Administration officials have been asking anti-slavery activists for several months if there is more that the...
September 22nd marks the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves in Confederate states during the Civil War. Slavery, however, still exists in the U.S. In fact there has never been a day in American history without it....
Next weekend marks an important milestone in American history: it will be 150 years since President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln ordered the release of slaves in Confederate states during the Civil War. This...
This week's national call-in day to the U.S. Senate was a resounding success. Participation by anti-slavery supporters was so great that it's taken a few days to add it all up. Here's the bottom line: THOUSANDS of people contacted their U.S. senators and asked them to...
National Call-In Day September 4th Let your Senators know you want them to fight slavery! Today is the day to take action, to let Washington know that fighting slavery is something you care deeply about, to let your Senators know that you want them to pass the single...
There’s a risk that the bill authorizing U.S. anti-slavery programs will soon die amid Washington gridlock. That’s not because slavery is a partisan issue. It’s because abolitionists haven’t convinced Congress that fighting slavery is something Americans care deeply...
It's back to school soon for students in Free the Slaves student chapters. We've been receiving dispatches from student chapter members about how they are confronting and combating slavery even during their summer vacations. Here are thee stories that we thought you'd...
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday approved a new rule that requires companies to investigate their supply chains and disclose if their products contain minerals from conflict areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or surrounding...
This could become an important day in the history of the modern abolition movement. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to vote on new rules to require companies to investigate their supply chains and disclose if their products contain minerals...
People who are new to human rights work discover some pretty amazing things about the world and themselves. So we thought it would be good to check-in with our summer interns about what they're discovering as they support Free the Slaves. Research: Alex & Anna...
You’ve seen her posts in the FTS blog. Now you can read the in-depth account of one woman who decided to take action after discovering that child slavery still exists. The book is called Facing the Monster: How One Person Can Fight Child Slavery. In it, author Carol...
When I got the news, I rushed to the site with our local colleagues. I knew that this day would be especially important. Labor Department authorities were raiding a brick kiln. Freedom was within reach for 27 adults and 24 children. The raid was triggered by one...
The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the greatest humanitarian challenges in the world today. And most consumers are connected to the crisis, because valuable minerals from Congo are used in global manufacturing. Many laborers...
Katie Ford is no stranger to those in the fashion world, and is no stranger to Free the Slaves. Made famous by her family’s modeling agency, Ford Models, Katie made the transition from CEO to abolitionist after attending a U.N. human trafficking conference in 2008....
It’s been an intense week for the anti-slavery movement, with four congressional events in three days. Much of the media’s attention went to actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s testimony on Tuesday about sex trafficking to the Senate foreign relations committee. But on...
It was an overflow crowd as Senator John Kerry prepared to speak, the room full of activists and interns eager to learn. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had gathered to explore “The Next Ten Years in the Fight Against Human Trafficking: Attacking the Problem...
It’s like a perfect storm. Events are converging from every direction. If you’re eager to learn about modern slavery and how it can be eradicated, now’s the time. Tuesday features a special 30-min webcast premiere and live chat event to address a critical question:...
It’s taken a while, but the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set a date to vote on rules that could require many companies to disclose if their products include slavery-tainted raw materials. The well-known Dodd-Frank financial reform act got this...
This July, we've been collecting submissions for our Photos 4 Freedom campaign. We at Free the Slaves are excited to announce our winner: The Anchal Project. The Anchal Project is a nonprofit that provides alternative careers in textiles to sex workers in India. The...
As the world gears up for sport’s most prestigious event, athletes aren’t the only ones dreaming of gold. Slaveholders are preparing to profit from the Olympic Games by trafficking men, women and children to London this summer. Slavery is present at nearly every mega...
Last week, we announced the beginning of Free the Slaves’ annual 4th of July photo contest, now with the catchy new name of “Photos 4 Freedom.” These past two years, you’ve dazzled us with your creative ways of finding freedom in your daily lives. From food, to street...
With June quickly coming to a close, there’s one thing on the minds of many Americans: the 4th of July. Even though we unfortunately won’t have a three-day holiday weekend (a Wednesday 4th, really?!), this day continues to provide us with an opportunity to celebrate...
Voters in California this November will be deciding more than whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will be president. They’ll have a chance to send a message to traffickers. The CASE Act has qualified for the ballot. If approved, the anti-trafficking initiative will...
In a landmark vote that may set a global example for getting tough with traffickers, Brazilian lawmakers approved a constitutional amendment this week that allows authorities to confiscate land owned by slaveholders. FTS supporters helped make this happen, by joining...
Congress got tough on companies after the 2008 financial meltdown, enacting the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. It included a vital section to combat exploitation in Congo, called the “Conflict Minerals" provision. The law will require companies to disclose whether...
Brazil’s Congress may soon take a huge step: sanction slaveholders through a constitutional amendment to confiscate land where people have been rescued by government anti-slavery squads. The confiscated land would help landless families, who are often the most...
You may eat sustainable food. You probably support green building. You likely recycle, compost, and buy local. But what about sustainable people? What about the tie between fair trade and human rights? And how close it all is to home? If you’re in Berkeley on April 20...
We’re really close to our goal, with just a few days left to our special campaign. FTS supporters have been answering the call donate the book Slavery to California schools and libraries. You can put us over the top on our Freedom Education Project on Indie GoGo. All...
You may know Esperanza Spalding's music from her 2011 Grammy Award for Best New Artist or from her Oscar performance, or from her night sharing the stage with Michelle Obama on the Letterman Show. Now get to know her giving side. While on tour this spring, she's...
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. And if you still haven't gotten a present for your beloved this year, we've got a last minute gift you can give: Send a Valentine's Day ecard, and help end slavery! This year, get your Valentine something original, something that lasts,...
Saturday, February 12th is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. You were probably taught in school that he’s the president who ended slavery. Sorry to tell you that your teacher was misinformed. Lincoln helped make slavery illegal. But that hasn’t prevented slavery from still...
We want to say thanks to our friends in upstate New York who staged a musical benefit for Free the Slaves back in December. Adam Roufberg and Evan Stormo pulled together seven bands for a night to create awareness that slavery still exists and that Free the Slaves has...
The U.K.’s International Slavery Museum recently released the Contemporary Slavery Teachers’ Resource, which will educate students in England and Wales about modern day slavery and how they may take informed action against it. It is hoped that this monumental...
For more than a decade, fighting slavery has been a unified effort by both the democrats and republicans in the U.S. government. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, considered to be the cornerstone of anti-slavery legislation, passed into law in 2000. It was a...
It’s the beginning of the New Year, so why not start a New Year’s resolution to help end Modern-Day Slavery? There are currently 27 million slaves in the world right now- more than any other time in history. Together, we can do something about it. Here are five simple...
The beginning of a new year always generates news stories about new laws taking effect. But this year, the list of new laws brings abolitionists something to cheer about. The California Supply Chain Transparency Act now requires all retailers and manufacturers doing...
Dear Friends, There’s a word that you don’t often hear at this time of year. But it’s a word that embodies how your concern for others is changing lives around the world. That word is TRIUMPH. When families in slavery break free and step into lives of fulfillment,...
We're really excited to announce the launch of our new crowdfunding initiative, The Freedom Education Project! Based on platform IndieGoGo, the goal is simple– get 27 copies of Slavery: The Book donated to California Public Schools and Libraries. The book will also...
Today, December 2nd, is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery- marking the anniversary of the UN's adoption of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution...
A terrific opportunity has come from our friends at the Global Fund for Children. To help raise awareness about modern slavery, and to help child slavery survivors, the fund will donate one book to the Challenging Heights rescue shelter for every book that you buyby...
It's closing in on that time of year: the time of year for holiday parties, and end of year giving! You can do both—celebrate, and give back—in one fell swoop on Tuesday, December 6 at L.A.'s legendary Hotel Café. The Charitable Living group is putting on an amazing...
Thousands of Nepalis have petitioned their government to adopt the world's primary anti-trafficking treaty. Nepali anti-slavery groups supported by Free the Slaves have mobilized impressive grassroots support for the "Palermo Protocol." The protocol's official name is...
There's slavery in every shopping mall in America. From cocoa, coffee and clothing—to cars, computers and cell phones—many products sold in the U.S. are tainted by slavery. Sometimes it's sweatshop slavery where goods are manufactured. Other times, it's brutal child...